Increasing trade promotion efficacy

Promoting trade promotion activities is one of the most important jobs in creating circumstances for the province’s enterprises, cooperatives, and business homes to promote, introduce, and identify prospective local product consuming markets. Over the years, the province has simultaneously implemented support and construction solutions to establish varied distribution and consumption channels, therefore contributing to increased value, improved market penetration, and the creation of new values in addition to old ones.

Contributing to the circulation of products flow

It is clear that trade promotion activity in the province is carried out in a variety of ways, including flexibility, adaptation, and adherence to the current circumstances. Many trade promotion activities are implemented creatively, quickly, and effectively to alleviate difficulties, assist enterprises in recovering and developing production and business, and, at the same time, promote linking supply and demand, promoting circulating goods, and achieving export goals. In 2023, the province will organize 10 display areas to introduce industrial products, handicrafts, OCOP products, and typical rural industrial products of the province at domestic exhibitions; and organize the introduction and consumption of some of the province’s typical products at trade promotion events held in provinces and cities.

At the same time, emphasis is placed on preserving and launching provincially specific items at points of sale, as well as introducing OCOP and rural industrial products. This is an opportunity for enterprises, cooperatives, and rural industrial facilities to promote and introduce images and products, as well as encourage consumption of products and commodities both inside and outside of the province. There are presently around ten OCOP product selling stations in Viet Tri city and other districts and towns; the sales points are well-organized and elegantly adorned, and they exhibit a wide range of items, from processed goods to fresh meals.

After three years of operation, the booth displays and introduces products at Tien Cat ward, Viet Tri city, has attracted a large number of customers to shop, particularly regular customers, who are switching to buying goods via e-commerce and social networks combined with home delivery. Ms. Hoang Thi Dong, Booth Manager, stated that establishing sales locations and offering OCOP products in heavily populated regions facilitates purchasing and selling. This not only allows enterprises, cooperatives, and manufacturing facilities to promote and present pictures and products in the most real and intimate way possible, but purchasers can also see the products in person at the store. At the same time, integrate product information on mobile phones via apps and social networks. The store presently sells over 30 OCOP goods, including very popular items like as green tea, rice noodles, sour pork, and corn wine...

Aside from bringing items to the provincial market, the Department of Industry and commerce organizes events to meet export enterprises both inside and beyond the province, as well as to encourage commerce overseas. Many plywood products, laminated wood, flooring, and other enterprises producing and trading forest products in the province have participated in trade fairs and conferences with export businesses, as well as programs to bring foreign businesses to visit and work with wood processing businesses in Thanh Ba and Ha Hoa districts. Initially, Truc Mai Phu Tho Company Limited, Am Ha commune, Ha Hoa district, negotiated an export deal with a Japanese corporation.

With the support of all levels and sectors, businesses, cooperatives, and production facilities in the province use e-commerce trading floors to create digital stores, update information, images, and accounts, and exchange and consume goods, particularly agricultural products that are strong in the province. Currently, the province maintains and effectively runs the Giaothuong.net.vn e-commerce trade floor. To far, the floor contains 315 exhibitors, 962 products and services, and over 5.3 million attendees.

Thanks to effective trade promotion solutions, it has helped to raising total retail sales of products and social consumer service income to VND50.9 trillion in 2023, a 15.4% rise over the same time. The total value of commodities exported and imported is anticipated to be USD10.4 billion, placing it ninth among the country’s 63 provinces and cities.

Hung Lo Rice Noodle Cooperative in Viet Tri City has set up a booth on the Shopee e-commerce trading floor to boost its product consumption market.

Encouraging digital transformation and application of information technology

Understanding the importance of trade promotion, the Industry and Trade sector constantly monitors and closely follows information, market orientation, and national-level trade promotion programs, as well as the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s efforts to connect businesses in the province and guide the development of production and business plans.

To ensure the effectiveness of trade promotion operations, information technology and digital transformation are used on a regular and continual basis. Based on the implementation of the Plan to promote the application of information technology and digital transformation in trade promotion activities in the province in the period 2021-2030, the Department has coordinated with units and localities to organize training courses, propaganda conference on “Improving digital transformation capacity in trade promotion activities and business skills on digital platforms,” focusing on advanced skills, business skills on digital. Sales tools such as livestream sales let organizations do business more successfully on ecommerce platforms.

In addition, the Department successfully supports, applies, builds, and integrates information technology platforms to assist digital trade promotion efforts. As a result, the Department has integrated and supported five businesses and cooperatives in setting up e-commerce booths with 30 products to introduce and sell the province’s products and goods on the Shopee e-commerce trading floor, including herbal tea, nuts, UT tea, Doan Hung grapefruit, Thach De rice noodles... Create five sets of online business support solutions for the province’s enterprises and cooperatives to help them develop commercial e-commerce apps.

The Department of Industry and Trade has also provided 140,000 stamps to 11 units for the use of QR Code electronic stamp technology in the manufacture and selling of provincial agricultural and OCOP goods. Supporting units that use electronic stamps allows customers to track the origin of items, differentiate between genuine and counterfeit goods, and provide consumers with an overview of the production unit as well as the overall picture unit’s products. This is also a step toward incorporating information technology and digital transformation into unit manufacturing and business operations in order to improve product brands and extend product sales markets to high-end markets.

Furthermore, help is provided to encourage the use of information technology and digital transformation in trade promotion for agricultural firms. To far, 50 manufacturing units and organizations have been educated and assisted in converting login numbers and inputting data into the system using software to efficiently implement animal quarantine. In the realm of agriculture, updating and digitizing the database on issuing planting area codes for essential crops; Updated the disease-free livestock database for 19 businesses; updated and digitized the database for 17 subjects, with 35 items fulfilling OCOP criteria in the province.

Mr. Dang Viet Phuong, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade, stated that in 2024, the Department would continue to efficiently undertake trade promotion activities, establishing the greatest circumstances for the province’s enterprises, cooperatives, and production facilities to thrive. Encourage firms to focus on training human resources to meet the demands of digitizing certain phases of production and business, strengthening the credentials of technical and technology managers, and establishing brands. Proactively monitor domestic and overseas market information to have suitable trade promotion strategies, enabling enterprises, cooperatives, production and business institutions flourish. Increase propaganda and brand marketing, product and products consumption, manufacturing expenses, product pricing, and inventory reduction. At the same time, facilitate market access, promote items through mass media, create circumstances. At the same time, encourage market access, promote products in the media, create circumstances for enterprises to engage in supply chains, and boost production and business capacity for the province’s core sectors and items.

Ha Nhung